MD Pictures’ rich history can be traced back to 2002 with its old logo and iconic location in Bursa Efek building in Jakarta. MD Entertainment started with a legendary event in 2004 and also pioneered the concept of an event every day. In 2005, MD Entertainment began to expand the concept of “one-stop” entertainment which two years later immediately changed the history of the Indonesian film industry by breaking the record for the best-selling film in 2008 through the phenomenal ‘Ayat Ayat Cinta’.
The company achieved a breakthrough in 2012 with the creation of MD Animation, and it didn’t take long for ‘Adit Sopo Jarwo’ to become an animated character loved and enjoyed across national television and cinema. In an interview, Priyadarshi Anand, CFO of MD Entertainment, tells Business Frontier how his company values creativity to stay ahead in the game.
Q. Give us a brief overview of your early days in the industry.
MD is one of the largest one-stop content production houses in Indonesia. MD continuously produces high quality content for domestic and international viewers. The company is over 20 years old and is the only production house in Indonesia with a successful track record on all platforms — TV, OTT and cinema.
I come from an FMCG manufacturing background and worked for companies like Cargill, Tereos etc but the good thing is that “finance is a universal language”. I joined the MD Group in 2020 during Covid-19, which was a tough time. The entertainment industry suffered a massive hit during the lockdown as theatres were shut down and our revenue from cinema, our main source of earning, became almost nil. People were locked down in their homes, which forced them to look for alternative choices of entertainment. We know that every problem also brings an opportunity. Taking this as an opportunity, we started delivering content to consumers’ homes via OTT platforms. With this, we were able to turn around the company to even double the size of its pre-pandemic level.
We are unique as an organisation because we focus on creativity. The company has a talented team that helps businesses build their content strategy by determining the current market needs, and focus on attracting the audience through creative content. We believe in setting new trends and creating new niches in the market. As we all know,content is king.
Q. You are the CFO of MD Entertainment. Tell us something about your current role in the organisation.
In short, as a financial team leader, I need to play a balancing act as a custodian of company assets and a part of the team in decision making for profitable business growth. As we are in a people business, it is important to keep things simple so that non-financial departments or parties can easily understand the details.
All traditional functions of finance like controllership, accounting, taxation, reporting, financial planning & budgeting, business restructuring, system control, business partnering and decision support, insurance, audits, treasury management, legal contracts, compliance, bankers and JV partner’s relationship, team development and growth, streamlining finance process, raising of funds etc are part of my current role.
Q. As a business leader, what critical elements shape your growth strategy?
As a business leader, I would say that any business needs to keep analysing past, present and future possibilities. Our growth strategies are to link future opportunities and possibilities of success with current resources to manage and past track records like start from FTA days Cinta Fitri or in cinema KKN (highest grossing movie of all times at Indonesian box office) or Layangan Putus on OTT streaming and expand business domestically and internationally. We believe in sustainable, reliable, and profitable growth strategies. Moreover, all our strategies are people-centric.
Q. How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance, and how important do you think it is for your team to do the same?
I always encourage and believe in “work-based model rather than time-based model” of working which provides flexibility to my team and helps team members maintain a healthy work-life balance. On the other hand, simplicity and clarity of work add to their efficiency. I am always happy to see team members grow from lower to middle and higher levels in MD Entertainment. In short, I would say, keep things simple.
Q How do you keep abreast of the latest trends in the industry?
A positive thing about the digital era is that all that is happening around the world is available at your fingertips. As a habit, I always spend an hour with my morning tea at home to update myself with the latest in financial markets and industries. On the other hand, I also read regular reports from banks, market analysts and discussions.
Q. How do you adapt and stay responsive to new challenges in today’s rapidly-changing environment?
Today’s rapidly-changing environment and technology also brings business opportunities for revenue generation or saving cost. We keep things flexible and adapt to changes based on the mid- and long-term strategies of the company and business needs.
Even before Covid-19 hit, we were preparing to deliver content via OTT by analysing the latest trends in the industry but the pandemic made the transition faster.
Q. What legacy do you hope to leave in your current role, and how do you plan to achieve it?
I want to leave behind a sustainable, reliable, and profitable business which has grown multiple times and a well-trained team to manage different situations and processes as per business needs, and one which can take the business to new heights.
